The Curonian Spit Oasis
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An unforgettable taste of summer, the soughing of the sea and hot sand – discover all this in the Lithuanian oasis, the Curonian Spit. Watch how quickly the wind covers your footprints in the sand. Close your eyes and feel free. “It feels like standing at the entryway to Heaven,” the French writer Jean-Paul Sartre described his visit to the Curonian Spit. |
Photo: fotoskrydis.lt |
An unforgettable taste of summer, the soughing of the sea and hot sand – discover all this in the Lithuanian oasis, the Curonian Spit. Watch how quickly the wind covers your footprints in the sand. Close your eyes and feel free. “It feels like standing at the entryway to Heaven,” the French writer Jean-Paul Sartre described his visit to the Curonian Spit.
The narrow and lengthy peninsula, washed by the Baltic Sea and Curonian Sea (Kuršių marios), reminds one of a desert. We call it Kuršių nerija (the Curonian Spit). It was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000 as one of the most beautiful and unique landscapes in Europe. The strip of sand, stretching into the sea, has several cosy, neat and picturesque fishermen’s villages: Juodkrantė, Pervalka and Nida.
Juodkrantė is worth visiting because of its quay, the rebuilt old stylish villas, and fishermen’s houses surrounded by gardens and parterres. The Hill of Herons (Garnių kalnas) nearby is home to one of the largest grey heron and cormorant colonies in Europe.
Nida enjoys the largest number of sunny days in Lithuania per year. Another unique feature of this place is the weathercocks. They used to mark a particular village’s ownership of the kurėnas (a type of sail-ship).
Take a cognitive walk on the two-kilometre-long Parnidis pathway. It begins in Tylos slėnis (the Valley of Silence) and passes the Nida lighthouse, the biggest one on the Lithuanian coast. The pathway meanders to the Parnidis dune observation spot, a very popular attraction in the Curonian Spit. Here you can observe the Baltic and Curonian Seas, watch the sunset, and feel the unique chemistry of the two bodies of water.
For 9 kilometres – from Juodkrantė to Pervalka – lies the Nagliai reserve, a unique landscape of drifting dunes.
The Curonian Spit is an unforgettable experience. Rent a nice villa, spend numerous hours in the white dunes that provide cover from the wind, bathe in the wavy Baltic Sea, and try some fish caught and smoked by local fishermen: bream, eel, and flatfish. Visit the Curonian Spit and you will understand why this place has long been an attraction for tourists and artists.
